Just By Chance
by Fiallah
Summary: Fate or chance? Which one brought Minato into the Velvet Room when Igor nor Elizabeth were present. Was it just coincidence that Theodore was 'filling' in when Elizabeth wasn't there? Could it be fate that brought Minato to escort Theodore into the human world to let him experience life beyond the Velvet room? In either case Minato was more than willing to take a chance. TheoMina
1. Meeting

Boy I sure do like Theo, it's a shame i can't have him as my assistant if I play as a guy. Which is why I bothered writing this. And while writing this I wasn't sure if it was PQ or P3 Theo speaking.

* * *

"Oh thank god we're back!" Junpei sighed in relief as he stumbled down the stares that lead to Tartarus. Akihiko and Mitsuru were silent but they were just as exhausted- with the exception of Akihiko who was out cold, those two times he was knocked unconscious by bufu skills wore him out a lot quicker, thus rendering him unable to make a comment if he even wanted too. Despite his team mates complaints, Minato wore them out to the bare minimum, every time he called it a night they were practically cheering. It made him want to stay longer, and any longer he would surpass Akihiko's dedication to training, even if training wasn't the reason he would keep them in Tartarus any longer.

"We're not leaving yet, guys." Minato said. Junpei was the only one to voice complaint. Minato looked over his shoulder and shot him a scathing glare, effectively shutting up the noisy boy.

"It's not like we're going back in, I just have to do something before we go back to the dorms." Minato's attention turned towards a lone door with blue lights seeping from the other side. He could practically hear Junpei's heart throb in disappointment as his team mates knew they wouldn't be going home just yet. _'Count your blessing that we're not going back in'_ As long as Junpei didn't say anything he wasn't gonna turn around with a chipper smile and say with sarcastic happiness 'Hey we're gonna head in to Tartarus once I'm done!'. It was tempting, but it was his own fatigue that kept him from doing that.

"Are you going into that room?" Mitsuru asked, looking at the door while hoisting the sleeping Akihiko further up onto her shoulder.

"Yeah." Minato nodded, walking over to the door that stood in the middle of the floor. His teammates have long since questioned why it was there, as lot of things during the Dark Hour didn't make a lot of sense. Like why Minato disappeared when he went through it when the others just walked through it. "It'll be quick, I promise."

Junpei scoffed in disbelief. Minato rolled his eyes, ignoring Junpei's impatience as he turned the doorknob and slipped into the vivid blue room, shutting the door as he went in so his teammates wouldn't get a peak of what was inside. Not that they could see anyway.

He rested against the door, feeling his own exhaustion wear on him, not just from Tartarus but his team mates were also annoying him. He sighed, smiling at the silence of the Velvet Room. It was nice and quiet, with Minato thought, too quiet. Minato frowned as he opened his eyes, taking note that Elizabeth didn't greet him, she would always greet him when he entered the room and yet there was nothing. All he heard was the aria being sung by someone who wasn't there.

He turned around, and saw something strange. No one was there, no Elizabeth, not even Igor. Save from a man with silver hair he never saw before. Standing by the empty chair in Elizabeth's place, he gasped when he saw that someone had entered the Velvet room. "Ah, welcome to the Velvet Room." The man greeted Minato with a bow and a smile, "I'm quite sorry, but my Master is out at the moment. If you could please come back at a later… date." The situation seemed to sink in for the man. His smile slowly fell, and panic sparked in his eyes. He covered his mouth his hand and looked away from Minato, "Oh dear, this wasn't supposed to happen."

Minato tilted his head, examining the man as he gathered his thoughts. Not long after the man face him again, joining his hands at his lower abdomen. "Yes, I'm afraid you'll have to leave at once." He stopped and looked down, lost in thought yet again before nodding his head. "Actually, this might mean something. Elizabeth said that nothing in this room happens without reason… " He gasped, and looked at Minato with an ecstatic smile, his hands pressed together in prayer fashion as he bounced himself on his toes, "Is this your first time in the Velvet Room?" He asked excitedly. It made it really hard for Minato to nod his head, watching his smile wipe clean off his face.

The man bowed his head, looking at the floor in disappointment, "Of course not," He muttered, "Master would be here to greet you if that was the case. All they asked me to watch over this place, it's one of the few moments where I'm out of that room Elizabeth tells me to stay in. It'd be foolish to think something so wonderful could happen." He stopped his monologue with a slight whimper. "I apologize for rambling to myself. This was never supposed to happen, Elizabeth said it would be most unlikely that someone would enter within the time she and Master are gone." Minato said nothing, which allowed the man to continue talking and gave him some time to figure out who this man could be. He was obviously connected to Elizabeth, this man was shy and quiet- the exact opposite of Elizabeth. What relationship to those two have? Minato wondered, they had the same hair and eyes, so his best guess was siblings. Then again, who was this man anyway?

"So what's your name?" Minato finally asked him. The man jumped at his voice and rubbed his cusped hands together.

"Ah yes, my name…" He quickly became flustered, "My name is Theodore. But please call me Theo. I'm Elizabeth's younger brother, who I've assumed you've become aquatinted with." His became wide with realization, and his smile became bigger, "You must be the guest she talks about. She goes on and on about you." Minato nodded, "Oh, I hope you two are getting along. I do apologize if my sister is overbearing, she can't be any worse with you than she is with me."

Him bringing up her name reminded Minato, "Where is Elizabeth?" He asked. Maybe asking where was Igor would be more practical, since he needed to fuse Persona's, not ask out Elizabeth.

"Oh, well she is enamored by the culture of the outside world and with our Master's absence, snuck out to explore more of human culture. I'm sure your generosity- escorting her around the human realm- piqued her interest." Theo explained, and his expression sadden slightly, "But don't worry, I'm sure the next time you'll be here she'll be back to assisting you along with Master. Our meeting was a mistake, you won't be seeing me again."

"Why not?"

Theodore looked happily surprised, and clasped his hands together, "Ah well, you're already Elizabeth's guest. Two attendants can't have the same guest, you see. Still, I enjoyed this time we spent getting aquatinted…" He stopped, before laughing, "Pardon me, I never got your name. I'm sure Elizabeth told me, but when she does talk about you it's usually just to rub it in my face so I try to ignore her. At least I believe that's the case. Everything Elizabeth does to me is usually is to spite me so it could just be me." Theodore looks worried, "Please don't tell Elizabeth I said that."

Minato scowled, all hints of flattery where gone as he didn't like the sound of Elizabeth using him as bragging rights. He was about to open his mouth to tell him his name, but Theodore spoke up again, "Actually, it'd be best if I didn't know. Who knows what punishment awaits if, by a slip of the tongue, I tell Elizabeth I spoke with her guest." Minato was unnerved by his statement. "But, however, I want to remember the name of the first human I've come in contact with, I'll keep quiet as best I can. So please, tell me your name."

Minato had no qualms about it either way, it's not that he really cared either way what would happen to Theodore if he did whatever he just babbled about. Or at least he made himself feel that way. "Minato." He said simply, Theodore let his name mule around in his head before nodded in content.

"Master Minato." He uttered, smiling giddily as he said his name. "Although our meeting is forbidden, I do hope we can meet again." All of a sudden he grinned ear to ear, "Maybe when Elizabeth venturing into the outside world." Theodore stopped himself and nodded with a grimace, his moods shifting just as fast as they come. "No, that's a foolish idea."

"What is?" Minato asked.

Theodore cocked an eyebrow, like he didn't expect him to say that. Then he closed his eyes a smiled schemingly, lolling his head as he rattled off his thought to Minato. "Well, if Elizabeth isn't around, I was thinking you could escort me around the outside world. Like I said, you don't have to concern yourself with my selfish desires, I have no need to leave this room, no matter how tempting it may seem." He sighed wistfully, "If we ever do meet again, I hope you can consider it. Maybe I could convince Elizabeth to have more time to herself. She works hard as it is, she deserves a break. Don't you think?" He looked eagerly at Minato, "Well, it'd have to be at night though." Despite his modest claims, Theodore seems to be set on touring the outside world. Minato would be lying if he said he wasn't thinking about it for as long as he could at the moment. This man seemed nice enough, and from what he described he didn't seem to have it easy, or ever left the room within this room that Elizabeth keeps him in. Minato shrugged his shoulders, escorting him around couldn't be any different than Elizabeth.

"Oh well, it's just a pipe dream of mine, nothing more. Again I apologize again for the inconvenience." He bowed again as if to bid farewell. He looked at Theodore again, and he saw regret in his gesture that seemed to close off their conversation. Minato shrugged his shoulders, turned around and walked out of the Velvet Room to see his teammates waiting for him to signal their leave for the night.

"You finally done?" Junpei asked, irritated more than ever.

"Iori, there is no reason to act so hostile." Mitsuru chided him, hoisting Akihiko up as she sat up from the ground, tired from carrying him while waiting for him to get done. Minato's surprised she isn't as visibly angry with him.

"It's okay, Mitsuru. He's probably just tired, we should get back now." Minato said, heading towards the exit. "Let's go." Minato felt he was more out of it that the unconscious Akihiko he helped Mitsuru carry back towards the dorm.


	2. Assuring

To tell the truth Minato couldn't get Theodore off his mind since their encounter. His plans of sneaking out sounded like something a rebellious teenager would think of, something Minato found cute.

Minato wasn't gonna reject his attraction towards his fellow male team members, it was something he was good at hiding; mostly cause he was under no pressure to tell anyone. He didn't owe his dorm mates a confession of his orientation, after all he was attracted to girls as well so it made things a lot easier for him to go about the norm. His reputation as a lady killer held a lot more water than those rumors about him dating the foreign student.

But what does any of this have to do with Theodore? Sure Minato found him cute but they just met after all and no one knew Theodore at all. From what Minato could tell he was just as clueless as his sister about everything related to human culture, but behavior wise he didn't seem to be like his sister. He was more of the refined type, almost like a butler, where as Elizabeth was more curious and impulsive. But whose to say Theodore wasn't like that under that dignified stance?

"Oh, are you feeling ill?"

Minato gasped, snapping out of his train of thought when he saw Elizabeth in the corner of his eye looking curiously at the drops of melting ice cream drip down the cone he was holding. "You've hardly taken a lick of your frozen treat. Is it still to cold for you? Should I get napkins?"

Minato nodded and began to lick up the melted layer of ice cream. Thankfully Elizabeth just wanted to do something simple like go out for ice cream. A whole other part of the city she could tour can be saved for another day when he really wanted to get some info out of her.

"You seem lost in thought. I understand, places like these can invoke curiosity, I wonder where else we could go."

"Not today." Minato muttered.

"Well if you aren't feeling well we could postpone it. But not to far off, we only have so much time together." She giggled. Minato didn't even look at her, his back hunched with a grumpy scowl on his face. "But I can understand why you're feeling so drained, after all you did work yourself rather hard in Tartarus last night."

Minato's eyes went wide. Her statement felt off to him, perhaps it was the fact he only went to the Velvet Room once during their run through Tartarus and she wasn't there. That also reminded him why he even bothered taking Elizabeth out today- "H-hey." He piped up, "While we're here we can just talk."

"Talk?" Elizabeth seemed puzzled.

"Yeah we never really do talk when we do this. R-right?" His body language didn't back up his forced enthusiasm that well. She could see the frantic look on his face, "Like uh… you have any siblings?"

"Siblings?"

 _'_ _Jeez, quit the one word questions.'_ Minato thought bitterly, "Yeah, brothers and sisters. You got any?"

Elizabeth tilted her head and cocked a brow, "Why are you asking? That surly isn't important."

 _'_ _Oh crap she's already onto me.''_ "No, not at all!" Minato chuckled nervously, "But it's just nice to know little things like that if you want to be close to someone. I mean." He gulped, calming himself down so he could look into Elizabeth's eyes with that smooth gaze of his, "I want to be close to you."

Elizabeth seemed flustered, Minato felt triumphant as all hints of suspicion held towards him melted right off of Elizabeth's face with a light shade of pink. "Like for instance." he relaxed in his seat while he kept eye contact with Elizabeth. "I'm an only child. So I like listening to people talk about their siblings, just to give me an idea."

"I see." Elizabeth nodded, "Well, I guess it wouldn't be to bad if I told you about my siblings."

"So you do have siblings." Minato's smile got bigger.

Elizabeth nodded, "Yes. Theodore and Margaret."

 _'_ _Two? Wonder why the other one wasn't there'_ Minato opened his mouth to ask about Margaret, but realized she wasn't priority. But he couldn't keep his questions exclusively about Theodore, lest Elizabeth gets suspicious. "So where are they? I never see them in the Velvet Room."

Elizabeth stroked her chin as she thought, "That's complicated, at least for my sister. Theodore doesn't have a guest to attend to so he…" She stopped.

"He…?"

"He's in the Velvet Room, but he's not in the room used for fusion."

"So will I ever see him?"

Elizabeth chuckled with a crooked smile, "Why would you ever want to see him? He's nothing important, really."

Minato looked at her with a look of confusion and slight disgust. But he shook his head, deciding not to linger on her comment. "That doesn't answer my question."

"No, you won't see him at any point."

It was amusing how sure she sounded, like the possibility of him going into the Velvet room last night wasn't a possibility. It was weird thinking about how certain she was of that when she apparently knew that he was in Tartarus in the first place. That only brings up more questions about certain aspects of Elizabeth's personality. But he couldn't help but ask, "Do you get along with him at all?"  
"Theodore? Yes we get along quite well, why I was telling him about the times we go out. I put in every detail so he can fantasize about the outside world the best he can."

Minato sneered, not knowing whether to beleive her or not ever since Theo said she rubbed him in his face. "Can he leave? I mean you-" Minato cut himself off, remembering that she didn't know about the incident that happened last night. At least he hopes that's the case. Elizabeth was unpredictable, to say the least.

"No, not without a proper guest to escort him. At least that's what Master said." She scratched her chin, "It's not like Theo ever brought that up. I wonder if Master's feelings towards attendants leaving the Velvet Room has changed since our meetings…" Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders. "Well, it's not important." Minato felt something brush against his shoulder, "As long as we can meet like this."

Minato rolled his eyes and sighed, "Yeah, it's fun being with you too." He forced his lips to curve into a smile as Elizabeth slipped her hand into his and tugged.

"Now, lets go to the burger place before it closes. Next time we'll go somewhere different!" With that she practically yanked Minato from his seat and dragged him to the strip mall for those burger he swears he can't keep down anymore.

Minato spent the afternoon with Elizabeth, and headed back to the dorm with an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.

…

…

Minato could hurl until all that came out was straight stomach acid, and the thick greasy fullness of those duck burgers would never leave him. It felt like the inside of his digestive track was lined with a thick grease and the mental image made him more and more nauseous.

Minato had swished some mouthwash around his mouth to get rid of the taste of vomit and left the bathroom. God the dorm was chilly today, his skin was like glass being streaked with razor blades, goosebumps rubbing uncomfortably against the fabric of his t shirt. He wasn't sure if that or the direct contact with the air was worse.

"Leader." He heard Fuuka's quiet, yet concerned voice from the other side of the room. When he looked over the living area where everyone was was all but a blur, but he could feel every pair of eyes in the room look at him with shared worry. "Are you feeling all right?"

Minato nodded his head, seeing no point in lying. "Not really…" He muttered. "I think I'm coming down with something."

"Well, we did beat ourselves up pretty bad in Tartarus last night." Akihiko commented, even though Tartarus was a mere contributing factor to his illness. "I still feel pretty sore."

"Yes, it would be best to make sure all of us are in peak condition for our investigations." Mitsuru added. Minato felt like he was talking to a bunch of robots, even Aigis had more animation to them and she hasn't said anything. "Please leader, it's especially important for you to be in good condition."

"H-hey!"Junpei piped up and Minato immediately stopped listening. He could predict every last word that was about to come out of Junpei's mouth, or at least the grand scheme of how the conversation would go.

He could hear them bicker, their words weren't even coherent, just loud. So painfully loud. Minato clenched his eyes shut, feeling he was in a daze and he went upstairs to his room, everything wasn't staying still. The stares spun and the last step seemed so far away.

He stopped, holding his stomach as he felt a belch work its way up his throat and escaped through his mouth with the taste of those burgers accompanying the foul lump of gas. He could feel another onslaught of bile begin to gurgle in his stomach, aching to come up. Goddamn he knew those stupid duck burgers tasted undercooked. He felt like his feet weren't connecting to the floor and when he did reach the last step, he found himself face down on the floor.

Loud, even though everything sounded like it echoed from the end of a tunnel it was all so painful to listen to. "Le~~r!" Piercing right through his eardrums, Minato let out a heavy breath. His own breathing was loud, it hurt his pounding head. His pupils swam inside of his sockets, nothing stood still. The sounds of his breathing, the rushed footsteps approaching him, "A~~Ok?" All the sounds. He clenched his eyes shut, and all of a sudden it just stopped, all the blurry colors melting into a definite shade of black.

…

…

There was a blurry image, bright and hazy. It was day time, the room had many windows in it, sort of like a restaurant, that cafe in Paulownia mall. But in thee corner of the hazy image he could see that duck figure that belongs to the Wild Duck Burger place. Minato felt like he was watching a movie, but he could feel himself begin to reel over with that unique nausea he felt being anywhere near those things.

Across from him was a moving blue figure, it was Elizabeth… sitting across from him, from what he could make out there were so many wrappers with that accursed duck on them, smiling mockingly at him with that cartoony bill. While the image was out of focus he could see her movement that consisted of her cramming those fat dripping burgers down her throat and into her black hole of a stomach. And it didn't stop, no matter what he felt like he was doing to get her attention didn't affect her at all. Minato could speak, he could feel his mouth moving but no words were coming out, he didn't even feel like he was there.

 _No more, no more food. Elizabeth, you can have anything you want besides those gross burgers. How the hell can you eat that many? How are you not at least feeling sick?_

Minato blinked, and the hazy vision of Elizabeth was gone. Embraced by warmth, no chills whatsoever and that sick feeling in his stomach gone. Usually when inflicted by food poisoning you'd be ravaged by chills due to a high fever and the urge to vomit every few minutes. But Minato didn't feel it, he didn't even feel the after affects of the burgers anymore. Minato smiled at the clean feeling, maybe a good rest was what he needed, but once he really got a good look at his surroundings he knew it was only natural he felt like that. He wasn't even in his room.

This is…

"Welcome."

Minato sighed in dissatisfaction at the sound of Igor's voice. This meant that he was probably bed ridden in the real world, and that he was gonna wake up feeling like he was caught in a train wreck. When he focused his eyes on the long nosed man, he noticed something odd yet again. Elizabeth wasn't there, and in her place was the same man he met only a day ago. As as he stood next to the couch Igor sat on, he was stiff as a board; his back straight, his face tilted upwards with his lips twisted into a quivering frown. "Do not be alarmed, you are fast asleep in the real world."

Minato only nodded, his eyes on Theo who was visibly shaking as the situation progressed. "Now." Igor continued, "It appears we came across a rather interesting turn of events in your journey." Theo was becoming more and more frazzled, a small whimper scaling his lips. "You have come in contact with yet another resident of this room."

"Master…" Theodore muttered.

Igor ignored Theodore. "Yes, the question of whether or not will hinder your journey has not been answered. But the way I see it, it shouldn't interfere."

"Master?" Theodore seemed surprised at Igor's words.

"So what does that mean?" Minato asked.

"Well, it's not the first time a guest of this room has had multiple attendants. They managed to reach the end of their journeys just the same. Then again, they didn't escort them around the human realm."

Theodore exhaled shakily, clinching his own Persona compendium tightly as his focus shifted towards the ground. "Master, please understand this never was supposed to happen. I only did as you said when you left the room and Eli-"

"Now now, Theo." Igor gestured him to calm down, "Elizabeth might be being escorted in the human realm, but she is fulfilling her duties just the same. Am I correct?" Igor eyed Minato for an answer, who quickly nodded his head. "And you don't seem to have a guest."

Theodore slowly nodded his head with a solemn expression, "Yes Master, my guest has yet to come along."

"With no one to attend too, I see no problems letting our guest escorting you around the human realm."

"M-master!" Theo looked ecstatic, and he turned around towards the chair to bow respectfully at Igor, "Thank you very much Master!"

Igor seemed to pay no mind to Theodore, and continued to talk to Minato, "Although Theo might not be giving you any direct services, bonds between two individuals are always important. I hope you could find a potential bond between you and Theo." Igor waved his hand, "Now, until next time."

The room was beginning to become hazy, and Minato prepared himself for the dizziness that was sure to come as his consciousness returned to the real world. But before sound and sight could fully meld together into one he could hear Theodore's voice. "Come by for me, keep your promise!" Weird, did he ever promise him that?


	3. Sickness

And it went just like Minato thought he would: the moment he could comprehend external stimuli death seemed a lot more appealing. Body aches, his head was pounding, somehow sweating while feeling like he was caught in the arctic, and anything that just happened to brush against him caused him massive discomfort. In this case it was a bunch of blankets wrapped around him in order to ward off the cold. A twisted trade off of symptoms, and it couldn't even be considered that because the chills still coursed throughout his body even with all the heavy blankets piled on top of him as he lied stiff as a board in his bed.

"Thank goodness, you've awaken." It was soothing to hear that monotone voice. Aigis was right beside his bed, dutifully watching over him as his line of sight became clearer. "You appear to be suffering from food borne illness. I shall alert the others that you are awake, and see if they can assist."

Minato couldn't ward up the energy to say anything, but Aigis left the room anyway. Minato lifted his head up and looked out the window, just to see the general time of day, then let his head fall back on the pillow, cringing at the wave of chills running down his spine. It was dark out, and he figured that he was resting the entire day, he still felt horrible. _'Damnit'_ He thought, _'I had to work tonight…'_ With how last nights expedition went, they were due for new weaponry, but being low on money and in health the expedition would no doubt have to be on hold tonight. Why couldn't they buy their own weapons? Unfortunately for Minato, he couldn't do much about it now, he could only just hope this dreadful feeling could go away as soon as possible. For some reason he felt anxious, like he was forgetting something really important.

Oh, right… It wasn't just work he was planning on doing tonight. He could've also went out with Theodore; his crazy scheme to go out and explore the human world. But for some reason he felt more obligated to that than the part time job he took at the cafe near that ally way. Money kept their exploration going, hanging with Theodore… where would that get him?

As Minato pondered what could've been if he wasn't sick right now, he hardly noticed the thumping outside his window, and only noticed anything in particular when he heard the rapping of a fist against the glass. It's that that prompted him to actually lift his head up once again despite the massive discomfort, and he was shocked to see a bewildered Theodore wave excitedly at him once he caught his attention.

Many thoughts where running through Minato's mind: confusion and annoyance, which was largely due to the sickness. Now was the last time he wanted to do anything with anyone, but since Theodore was being so gracious with his entrance- Minato mustered up every last bit of energy to push the blankets off of him, and slowly lifted himself out of bed. Chills and waves of pain coursing through his limbs and limped over towards the window. With every step he yearned to be back in his bed, as being in the open like this was causing him pain. Yet for some reason Theodore seemed completely oblivious to his condition, looking so chipper and giddy. When he got to the window, Minato groaned with effort as he tried with all his might to open his window, but he was thankful once he got it open just for his fingers to slip under the bottom, Theodore took it upon himself to do the rest for him.

Minato stepped back as Theodore pushed the heavy window upwards with little strain and immediately climbed in. He leaned down to face him once he was in front of him, but before he could say anything, Minato spoke up as loud as he could, "Theodore." he rasped, hamming up his best sick voice just to ensure that smile could wipe off of Theodore's face, and it seemed to work as the wondered look vanished as he talked. "What are you doing here? I thought you." He stopped, looking down while gulping loudly, keeping up the performance up to get Theo to notice how bad he was right now. "I thought you couldn't leave without someone escorting you."

Theodore looked ashamed, and bowed his head in apology, "Forgive me for my entrance, but I couldn't were taking too long, so…" He smiled mischiviously, "I snuck out."

"You snuck out?"

"Yes!" Theodore exclaimed, "Elizabeth does it all the time, so I figured I should try it myself. Oh master Minato, it was such a thrill, no wonder my sister does it." The blue suited man seemed so exhilarated that he was bouncing on his heals as he stood hunched over to keep eye contact with Minato. The blue haired boy couldn't help but raise a brow at his strange behavior, not even five minutes and he was already rivaling his sister in obliviousness, and obnoxiousness; he wasn't even sick when he was hanging out with Elizabeth earlier and she took note of possible symptoms. Now here he was, the urge to vomit lurking in the pits of his guts, pale as a ghost and Theodore was bouncing like a five year old.

"So, shall we get going? The cafe I want to go too still seems to be open and I-"

"Theodore." Minato cut him off, "I'm sick. I would've stopped by earlier if I was feeling okay, can you wait till tomorrow?"

Theodore's face became blank, and he stood straight up, silent as ever. "Master Minato." He said, his voice monotone.

"I know it must've been tough to do this but this isn't how to go about it…" Minato stopped, grunting a bit as he could feel his forehead begin to precipitate, and he began to salivate immensely as he held back the bile rising up from the depth of his stomach.

"Stay here." Minato managed to mutter, Theodore still seemed clueless about his condition, even as he turned and hastily ran out of his room, getting downstairs as quick as he could so he could empty his stomach.

Minato tried to be quick, forcing every last bit of stomach acid out so he wouldn't be inconvenience while Theodore was still around. Then there was the problem of what to do with Theo. Telling him to leave might be rude, but he couldn't go out in this state, and he wasn't up to grin and bear it on a night like this when he was being ravaged by chills.

Minato speed walked back to his room, running was out of the question. It was a relief to see that Theo had not left his room, sitting on his bed as he waited for him to return. And when he saw him Theodore sat up and walked over to Minato with a look of concern, "Oh dear, you are tremendously sick." He said, as if just realizing that.

"Yeah, I've been trying to tell you that."

Theodore looked ashamed, "I apologize, this wasn't the right thing to do." Theodore rubbed his arm, "I was just so excited, I couldn't wait for you."

With his past behavior, Minato couldn't tell if he was being serious or he was playing up sympathy. He let out a shaky sigh, "Just don't do it again, okay?"

Theodore nodded, "Once again I apologize, but can I do something to make it up to you?"

"What?"

"Well, unlike you I can use my powers outside of Tartarus." Theo said triumphantly, flexing an arm with his hand curled into a fist. Then he grasped Minato by the shoulders and held him still. "So let me try something, where does it hurt most?"

Minato cocked a brow, he had a feeling what Theo wanted to try, but to pinpoint where it hurt most was a bit of a challenge. He gestured towards the area right below his left rib. "My stomach, I guess."

"Okay, lift up your shirt. Just a bit." Theo instructed as he got on one knee, and Minato did as he was told. As he lifted his shirt he shivered as the cool air hit his bare belly, and the feeling of the cloth rubbing against his skin, but that was nothing when he felt Theo's gloved hands brush and press against his his skin, making him jump and his cheeks burn.

There was a glow, and a warm pressure branching from his abdomen, it was no doubt a poisamundi spell to ward off the sickness, like it was a ailment from Tartarus, and to his surprise, it was working. He felt the ill feeling that was crawling in his abdomen subside and the chills dying down as Theo held his hand on his stomach. Minato sighed in relief, smiling a little as he felt all of aches go away within a matter of seconds.

"Do you feel any better, master Minato?" Theodore asked as he pulled away his hands and got back to his feet.

"Yeah, I do actually." He looked at Theo bashfully. The least he could do his thank him for that. "Uh…"

"Good enough-" He cut off the teen, twiddled his hands excitedly, "To go out?"

Minato wasn't one to humor stupid ideas, "No."

Theodore pouted, "Okay, but tomorrow! The day after the latest." Theo reached down and grabbed Minato's hands and pulled him close, "Please?"

Minato blinked at his strange behavior. Was Theo trying to charm him? Because with those searing golden, eyes anyone could obey his whims, he had to know what he was doing to make such a bold move such as this. "Y-yeah, yeah." Minato nodded quickly, and Theodore parted from him with a delighted smile.

"Promise, I made sure that you'll be feeling alright by tomorrow. If it didn't work already."

"Just let me get my rest, Theo." Minato said. Theodore nodded and opened the window, sliding back out into the night.

Minato walked to the window, and watched as Theo jumped two stories down and landed on his feet, and with out giving himself a moment to recover from the shock he ran back to the velvet room. From where Minato was he couldn't see any hindrance to his movement, but it had to cause Theo some type of pain. Minato shrugged his shoulders, and watched Theo until he was out of site before closing the windows, which took a less effort than to open them.

"Leader." A voice called out. He gulped at the sound of that stern voice, and looked over tat the door to see Mitsuru standing there with her arms crossed. "Leader, shouldn't you be in bed?" She asked as she entered his room.

"Umm, the window was open."

"Strange." She tapped her chin with a manicured finger as she looked at the window, "Why was it open anyway?"

Minato shrugged his shoulders as he sat back and his bed and crawled under the blankets, "Who knows?"


	4. Tarts and Dolls

Waking up the next day was surprising as he was able to get out of bed without much struggle, the aches in his stomach where unnoticeable and walking wasn't physically impossible. Maybe it was the healing spell Theo had used on him, or he was being over dramatic and the burgers simply left him with a really bad case of indigestion.

Not like it mattered to Minato, he would've stayed locked up in his room on a Sunday anyway. It was rather cloudy today, and he had no interest in hanging out with anyone. He turned on the TV, only to see Tanaka still selling his 'amazing' commodities and the News going over the recent rise in cases of Apathy Syndrome. He sighed before turning off the TV, and threw the remote on the bed. Thankfully from the beating they took the day before, not even Akihiko would pressure them to go back into Tartarus.

Minato went downstairs, only two people where there, Fuuka; who was on her laptop, and Ken, which was normal as Fuuka being on her computer. He saw Koromaru's head lift and look towards his direction, to which he jumped off the couch and ran towards him, alerting the others of his presence.

"Minato, you're feeling better already?" Fuuka asked. Minato muttered a positive response, being more fixated on the albino shiba running happily around him and jumping up so that his paws where on his legs.

"But jeez, you were sleeping for most of the day, it's already 4 PM."

Minato stopped in his tracks on his way to kitchen, and he looked back at Fuuka, "4 PM?"

Fuuka became stiff as Minato looked at her in shock, looking worried as if she said something she shouldn't have, which made her response quiet and nervous, "Y-yeah. I mean, you looked pretty bad so we just decided to let you sleep."

Minato calmed himself down, after all sleeping half the day away was something he wished he could do more often. "No worries Fuuka." He gave her a flick of the wrist and went back into the kitchen. He just needed something to drink, and as he was pouring himself some orange juice he thought to himself. At least he'll be able to see Theodore sooner than he had expected, he was just gonna waste the whole day like he usually would.

Well, it's not like sleeping and doing nothing were any different.

….

….

….

Darkness came, and Minato was out the door despite the complaints of his teammates that ranged from 'You should still take it easy' and 'We need to go into Tartarus', none of which he was up for, and as their leader, his word was final. He quickly made his way to the back ally at Paulownia mall and pushed open the vivid blue door. Igor was there, sitting with his chin rested between his two intertwined hands, and right next to him was a Theodore, who was beaming with joy as he squeezed the compendium to his chest with a smile so wide his cheeks were bound to fall off.

"Welcome to the Velvet room." Igor said, the greeting usually reserved for Elizabeth who was mysteriously absent. Theodore was probably overwhelmed with joy to see that he had shown up, but he quickly got back to assistant mode. Shaking his head and taking a deep breath as Minato walked up to him, his heart was beating so quickly Minato could feel it shake the room.

"Y-yes, how may I be of assistance?" Even though Theodore couldn't provide any, he still tried to fit the roll, and did it well. Minato almost wished he could have him instead of Elizabeth assisting him.

"You want to go out, right?" Minato asked like he would Elizabeth. Theodore nodded his head and walked up to Minato.

"Thank you very much, please lead the way."

Despite being the supposed 'leader', Theodore was hasty to get out the door, but by the time the were at the exit to the ally, the blue suited man came to an abrupt stop.

"What's wrong?" Minato asked.

Theodore moaned nervously, rubbing his arm, "Well, when I was out last night, I noticed how most of the stores where dark. I even tried being polite, and knocking to see if someone would answer, but to no avail."

Thinking of the well dressed man pounding on the doors of closed and probably locked shops, Minato flinched from second hand embarrassment."Well yeah, most of them are closed around this time." He stated.

"That's what I thought, but don't you know of…" Theodore stopped. Minato arched a brow as the man closes his eyes, and began to stiff the air, "What is that smell?"

Minato did the same thing, noticing right away that smell that was captivating him. He looked towards the left, and gave a small smile, "Oh yeah, Chagall Coffee. We could go there if you want."

Theodore closed his eyes with a smile, nodding slowly, "Yes, that would be a splendid idea." He stride next to Minato with an air of confidence.

"H-hey!" Minato protested as Theo absentmindedly took him by the hand and entered the cafe. The teens pale face was red within an instant as the door to the warm cafe closed behind him, and he quickly looked around to see if anyone he knew was there, but thankfully the cafe was filled with empty looking individuals that paid no mind to the two men who were still joined by the hands.

"Hmm." Theodore hummed happily with his eyes closed as he took a deep breath, and exhaled as he slowly opened his vivid gold eyes, "Ah, the scent is even stronger in here. It's stirring an unfamiliar feeling in my stomach." He frowns, and rubbed his abdomen curiously.

"Is it bad?" asked Minato.

Theodore stops, and looks at the blue haired teen with a smile, "Not at all, it's just strange feeling something like this. Well then, shall we take a seat?"

"Oh, y-yeah." Minato walked forwards, at the same time trying to yank his hand from Theo's, but to no avail as the older males hand was wrapped firmly around his as if he was a child.

"…" Minato sighed through his nose as he simply lead Theo to a two seater table at the far end of the cafe, right up against the window that lead to the garden in the back of the cafe that was used for scenery. Despite that, it was well maintained, with lights that automatically turned on at night to show the diverse arrangement of brightly colored flowers and shrubs with a rock pathway so the workers can tend to them from the side.

"Ah, what a beautiful garden." Commented Theodore as he stared at the window, "It adds to this wonderful ambiance."

"You like flowers?" Minato asked.

"Oh absolutely, in fact while I was out yesterday. I paid a visit to 'Port Island station' and there was a flower shop. I couldn't believe she was open so late at night in such an environment!" He seemed shocked, and so was Minato to some extent. He wasn't aware the girl was open that late either. "I wanted to buy one of those rose bouquets from her, but I didn't have the means to buy it." Theodore pouted at the memory, but suddenly smiled, "But there was this one bouquet, with flowers a dark shade of blue. Why, I couldn't help but think of you."

Minato looked away a bit, and pushed some hair to the back of his ear, "Uh, thanks?" With him being the brother of Elizabeth, he didn't expect such a smooth line like that to come out of him. It certainly caught him off guard, that, and him taking his hand and walking into the cafe like any other couple.

He nodded, "I thought you'd like to hear that."

The waitress- rather cheery despite the late hours, came to their table and greeted them enthusiastically. Minato ordered for both of them a cup of their pheromone coffee, hoping it would save the waitress Theodore's clueless banter.

"Miss, I'd also like to try these 'tarts' my sister had told me about."

Oh no…

"Would you like one?" She asked, peering at the menu page, "Which kind of tart?"

"Oh, there are different ones?" Theodore seemed surprised, but he kept up his bravado. "Hmm, I'll sample all of them."

 _'It's sampling them to you because you're not paying!'_ Minato's inner voice was screaming, but his face remained blank as the waitress went off to retrieve their orders.

"I do hope these are as good Elizabeth told me." He frowns uneasily, "The last time she told me to eat something it turned out to be dog food."

Minato eyes were wide in shock, but he quickly decided to steer the conversation away from that, "It's not like that here."

Theodore smiles with reassurance, "Well if you say so, I suppose I can trust you."

Their drinks and Theodore's tarts came rather quickly. It's a staggering amount of tarts! Every last combination one could think of was all assorted in small disks of dark golden crust, creme and varied toppings.

"Oh dear." Theodore is taken back, "I didn't expect it to be this much."

"It was all on the menu." Minato muttered.

"Yes I know… but I couldn't decide."

Minato clenched his teeth together, his hand where he was feting his chin on curled into a fist. "Wait you knew there would be this many?"

"I expected fewer." Theodore was oblivious to Minato's feelings yet again, "But, perhaps you could help me out?"

Minato was agitated, but he couldn't deny him that since he as paying for all of this. He's been and worked here enough to know each of these tarts costed about 1,000 yen each, and he quickly counted up all the tarts that were on the table and found that this would be costing him about 15,000 yen. This was indeed all the flavors the cafe had to offer, so he wouldn't be surprised by anymore coming to the table being brought along.

With that in mind, Minato grabbed the apple tart while Theodore began to eat the macha topped tart. And the speed at which he was eating was astounding, by the time Minato had finished two Theodore had gone through six. Each tart was met with a delighted response, each one causing him to get more emotional until Minato swore he was going to cry is sheer delight.

"I've never had such wonderful food before!" Theodore exclaimed as he took a bite out of another tart. Minato knew his loudness would attract peoples attention in the quiet cafe, but being around Elizabeth made him used to it. No, that wasn't right. He couldn't be used to it if he was finding himself sinking under the table in hopes to disappear.

When Theodore finally took a brake from shoveling tarts down his throat, he took a deep breath as if he forgot how to breathe. "Elizabeth is lucky to have a guest like you."

Minato was silent in his reply, and took a sip out of his drink. It was still hot, and in his chest a fuzzy feeling formed as the warm liquid rushed down his throat, which was normal with this cafes' signature blend. Seeing this, Theodore remembered his own drink and took a sip out of his and made a pleased sound.

"And this coffee." He whispered in wistfulness as he looked into the cup, "Elizabeth had told me about this too, as well with it tasting so exquisite." He gulped down a bit more of the coffee as if to prove her theory, "She said it alters ones appearance." With that he chugged down the rest and rested his joined hands on the table in silence, and asked. "Tell me, do I look any different to you?"

Minato blinked. "Yeah."

"Really?" Theodore straightened his shoulders, glowing with confidence, "While I know it's not directly altering your facial structure, the coffee is giving you an enchanting aura, making it impossible to look away from you."

Minato's face was stricken with red yet again. This man was just full of all the right things to say to and a foolish streak. "Thank you." Bashfulness and the side effects from the coffee didn't mix into a good feeling. The fuzzy feeling became stronger, his heart beating quickly, making it harder to breath. It was suffocating.

The feeling persisted until they paid and finally left the cafe, Minato carrying a box of five tarts they were too stuffed to eat. The cool night breeze felt wonderful again Minato's heated skin, and he felt like he could finally catch his breath.

"Well, that was a marvelous meal. I do hope we can go there again. And I wish that you can accompany me every time." He turned around, notching how Minato was lagging behind. "Are you feeling tired?"

Minato nodded his head, "No, is there anything else you want to do?" He had to force himself to ask.

Theodore looked around the mall. He knew his options were slim but he didn't want the tight to end, and despite in impending sugar crash, Minato knew he wanted to be with Theodore a little longer.

Theodore suddenly began to walk away. Minato gasped, and quickly went to his side as he walked over to the crane game on the other side of the Plaza.

"This machine." Theodore examined it, fiddling with the joystick and pushing the button, ushering no response from the crane other than its monotone sing song voice asking him to deposit 200 yen into the slot. "Like wise, just like the flower girl I need money to purchase something."

Minato groaned. Should he really sink any money into anything else? At least the tarts had a fixed price, while toys from the crane machine could cost 200 to 100,000 yen.

Though things like that didn't matter to Theodore, "If it's not too selfish, could you win me something from here? Sadly I can't take the tarts back to the Velvet Room and I want something to remind me of the time we spent together."

"You can't bring the tarts back?" Minato asked.

"It's not that." Theodore admitted while twiddling his finger, "Tarts don't last forever, and Elizabeth might take them and eat them."

Minato scowled. He was better off assuming human food wasn't allowed in the Velvet room so it wouldn't stain anything, but Theo was proving to be quite selfish. Nevertheless, Minato shrugged his shoulders. "Sure I'll win you something." He pushed the box against Theodore's chest, and when the man grabbed the box the teen fished into his pocket for two 100 yen coins and slid them into the slot and pressed the red button.

The crane unlocked itself from its inactive state, "Can I ask something else?"

Minato jumped when he saw that Theodore's face was right next to his, "What?"

"Can you get me the Hua Po doll?" he pressed his finger on the glass, in the direction of the red demon girl that stuck out amongst the Jack frost dolls. "It says here it's 'limited time only', that will make this night all the more memorable."

"Yeah, yeah just back up a bit, I need to concentrate." Theodore obeyed, and went behind Minato. The teen took a deep breath and focused on the demon doll. Once he got the crane in the right position over the easiest part of its body to grab, he pressed the button that made the crane go down.

It grabbed Hua po by the head, but the claw didn't curl enough to get a secure grip, and half way up, it ended up falling back down into the pile of Jack Frost dolls in the same position as before. Minato growled, and reached into his pocket for another 200 yen.

Another strategy was to grab it by the body. The crane got blocked by two other dolls. Grab it by the head and see if it landed in a different position to grant him new possibilities. That worked and Minato went for the wings. They slipped out of the cranes grip as it was pulling upwards.

Minato slammed a fist down on the dashboard of the crane game after he sunk 2000 yen into getting that stupid doll. As he forfeited another 200 yen to the machine, he felt a hand on his shoulder, "Master Minato. Let me try." Without giving Minato time to object he pulled him away and handed him the box of tarts before he went up to the machine himself, "there's an obvious technique that you haven't picked up on and watching you has given me some good ideas myself. Please, allow me."

Minato was gonna let that little jab at his crane skills go, and let him see that it was a lot easier to watch. As he expected Theodore was having a hard time too, and with each loss he supplied him with the needed change to try again, until-

"Master, I need more money."

"I'm all out of change." He informed, "I could go to an ATM and get more if you want."

Thedore growled, but didn't say anything else. Minato peered from behind him, seeing him stare blankly at the game. "Theodore? Are you gonna come with?"

His movement was quick but fierce, Minato was lucky to have reacted as quickly as he did when Theodore drove his fist through the glass. Shards landed all around them and into the pile of dolls.

"Theodore!? What the hell!?" Minato exclaimed as Theodore grabbed the prized Hua Po doll, along with as many Jack frost dolls he could carry in his arms. "Wa-wait! What are you doing?"

"There is no honor among cheaters." Theodore said calmly, "And this machine is just that."

Minato's mouth was wide opened as Theodore tried balancing at least six dolls in his hands, "Seeing as our hands are full, we should head back to the Velvet room." He turned to the alley way, surprisingly calm after committing an act of vandalism. _'Oh yeah, this is Elizabeth's brother we're talking about.'_

Minato pushed his body against Theo's back, urging him to quicken his pace before the police station only a few feet away decided to investigate. "Go, go, go!" Luckly Theodore didn't have to waste time with a key to get into the Velvet Room; they nearly fell onto of each other as Minato pushed them inside, and he slammed the door shut and pressed his back against the entrance. Gripping the box tightly within his hands as Theodore looked around to find a good place to store his dolls.

"Oh dear, I can't let Elizabeth see all of these dolls." Theodore looked back at Minato and smiled, "Here, you can have all of these dolls, and I'll keep the limited edition one." He pressed it against his cheek while he gave Minato that child like smile. He chuckled, "It's only fair."

Minato's head was about to explode as six Jack Frost dolls where placed on top of the pastry box. He was panting, seconds away from his heart popping out of his chest, his widened eyes fixated on Theodore. _'At least Elizabeth didn't cause property damage!'_  
"This has been most educational. For once Elizabeth's words didn't cause me any harm, minus a few scrapes from the glass, but nothing too bad. I have to thank you, my dear guest, for showing me such a wonderful time."

Minato gulped, and nodded as he breathed heavily. There was no way he would get away with this. There's bound to be cameras in the mall with a police station only yards away from where the scene happened.

He couldn't just…wait it out in the Velvet Room. He couldn't risk bumping into Elizabeth, and he really didn't feel like spending anymore time with Theodore tonight.

"Master."

 _'Oh god, what now?'_ Minato had to restrain himself from saying anything of the sorts as he looked up at Theodore.

"Before you leave, I must inform you that the dark hour has commenced."

As if he wasn't having several heart attacks already. Now he has to hear from Mitsuru about being out too late when they could be in Tartarus. "Um…"

"Please, allow me to escort you home." Theodore held out a hand. Minato's eyes were darting between his gloved hand and his face, which held a gentleness he hasn't seen from anyone. Those golden eyes, they were absolutely hypnotizing, Minato didn't even realize he had reached out a grasped his hand with his own.

Theodore gasped, and placed his other hand on top of Minato's before bowing his head. "Master Minato, I must apologize for keeping you out so late. The least I can do is ensure your safety in such a dangerous time." Minato felt his remorse, and opened his mouth, but he wasn't able to say anything.

Yes, Minato will get an earful from Mitsuru about being out during the dark hour and even a bigger tongue lashing when she finds out he'll be jailed for destruction of public property. All Minato knew is the uncertainty of whether or not it was worth it.

Theodore lifted his head, and smiled at Minato. "Come now, let's be on our way."

Minato still isn't sure.

* * *

for reference, 1000 yen is about 8$, so they spent 131 dollars on tarts. At least Minato's fucking rich from exploring Death Tower(tm)


End file.
